Allen Kwela

Allen Kwela (born in Chesterville, Durban on September 11, 1939; died July 1, 2003) was a kwela and jazz guitarist from South Africa. He was raised around Durban where he herded cattle and learned music after making a tin guitar. He began in kwela with Spokes Mashiyane, but later branched into jazz. His 2002 work The Broken Strings of Allen Kwela received award nominations for jazz.^[1] He has been said to have become a "revered figure"^[2] and "legendary" in South African jazz.^[3] He died of asthma in 2003 and had a wife as well as four children.^[4]

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